


Honey, you can't get rid of me

by AngryKitten



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, BokuOi, M/M, Post-Canon, ambiguous/implied Ushikuro, probably the tamest use of handcuffs on this site
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-03-03
Updated: 2016-03-03
Packaged: 2018-05-24 14:15:33
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,793
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6156250
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AngryKitten/pseuds/AngryKitten
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"What the..."<br/>Oikawa lifted his wrist. Bokuto's hand came with it.<br/>"Oh, what the ever-loving fuck." </p><p>(aka the 'we got handcuffed together' BokuOi AU that no one asked for)</p>
            </blockquote>





	Honey, you can't get rid of me

**Author's Note:**

> Rarepairs? Rarepairs!
> 
> (also tw for a teeny tiny amount of blood)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Oikawa woke with his right arm tucked awkwardly between his chest and the futon. He rolled off it and groaned at the sudden burst of pins and needles flooding his skin below the elbow. He lay still, waiting for the tingling to subside and rubbing his eyes against the watery light filtering through the windows of the club room. 

It was customary, the night after the final list for the varsity volleyball team was posted, for new recruits and upperclassmen alike to drag their futons into the club room and celebrate the initiation of the first years. Though 'initiation' wasn't quite the word Oikawa would use. 'Hazing' was closer to the mark. Oikawa rubbed his palm over his face, which came away with a smear of what was most likely a mixture of shaving cream and pie filling. Thank god Iwa-chan hadn't been there to see it. 

Oikawa sat up and stretched. Something tugged on his arm. Beside him, Bokuto shifted in his sleep, and Oikawa was nearly yanked down on top of him. 

"What the..." 

Oikawa lifted his wrist. Bokuto's hand came with it. 

"Oh, what the ever-loving fuck." 

"Mmngh." Kuroo trained bleary eyes on Oikawa from his futon, tucked up next to Ushijima's. "Go back to sleep, 's too early."

Oikawa wasn't sleepy anymore. "Show me your hands," he ordered, one eyebrow cocked. Kuroo tried to bring his wrists together, then turned in confusion. 

"How...? Are you serious? Ushi! Ushiwaka, wake up!" Kuroo jiggled the handcuffs until Ushijima yawned and opened his eyes. He stared up at his and Kuroo's bound wrists with no more than mild interest. 

"Oh," Ushijima said. "Huh." 

Bokuto, still fast asleep, flung his cuffed arm across Oikawa's lap and buried his face in his pillow. Oikawa examined the handcuffs. They were not cheap, and didn't yield when he pried at the hinge with his fingers. Most likely the kind you really did need a key to remove. Great. 

"Mornin' newbies!" Team captain Yoshimura strode through the club room door, fully dressed and carrying a giant cup of coffee. Hanging from the pocket of his track pants was a ring of small, nearly identical keys. Oikawa nearly lunged for them, only at the last second remembering the dead weight of one sleeping Bokuto Koutarou, who was now firmly attached to his wrist. He shoved Bokuto in the chest instead. 

"Ow! No, 'm sleeping..." Bokuto mumbled against Oikawa's knee. Some of the others had begun to stir, and Oikawa heard an indignant squawk as the final two first-years in their group discovered their own set of restraints. 

Yoshimura took a long, slow sip of his coffee. He was savouring their confusion, damn him. He had all of the power in the room; Oikawa was literally bound to the floor. It grated on Oikawa's nerves, raw and hot. He would not let himself be humiliated, no matter what came next. 

"What is this for?" Ushijima asked, completely sincere. They all knew how this went, there would be some sort of mildly degrading challenge to follow. Oikawa's blood boiled, knowing that Ushijima was already angling to win and they didn't even know what the game was going to be.

He took a breath and went to his happy place. His happy place was punching Ushijima in the jaw. It helped.

Yoshimura smirked. "I'll tell you in a bit. Gym two at noon sharp, be there if you don't want to forfeit." He turned, swaying his hips a little on purpose so that the keys jangled, and left. 

"Boku-chan," Oikawa hissed, "Bokuto, get up get up get up!" 

"Noooo," Bokuto whined, trying to roll over. This time though, Oikawa was ready for it, and pulled back on his wrist. Bokuto opened one eye, then both, and his brows shot up to his hairline. 

"Wha?" He looked to Oikawa for an explanation, puppy-like in his confusion. 

Oikawa shrugged. "Part of the initiation," he said, "we have..." he checked the time on his phone, "an hour and a half to get to the second gym."

"For what?" said Bokuto. 

"Dunno yet," Kuroo said. He was on his knees now, patiently moving his arm so that Ushijima could roll up their bedding unimpeded. It could be worse, Oikawa thought. He could be cuffed to Ushiwaka. 

He'd rather gnaw off his own arm. 

Bokuto tried to scratch his neck, then blinked in surprise when Oikawa's arm came over with it. "Oh, I'm sorry Oikawa, uh, here." He let their arms drop between them, reddening. A couple of second-years snickered. 

"Hey," said Kuroo, "how are we supposed to shower? And what if..." He trailed off, looking embarrassed, and Oikawa felt a coil of dread in the pit of his stomach. The second-years broke into peals of laughter, howling and clinging to each other for support. 

The vice-captain, a slightly less malevolent third-year named Taishou, gave Kuroo a sympathetic shrug. "To answer your question, intimately I guess. If it makes you feel any better, we've all been there. It's tradition. Here, if you need some privacy." He tossed a small toiletry bag at Kuroo, who caught it with his free hand. He unzipped the bag and pulled out an old iPod shuffle (the kind with the clip on the back) and a tangled pair of earbuds. Taishou tried not to laugh as Kuroo and Oikawa shared a horrified look. 

 

-

 

Oikawa did his best to wash his hair with one hand. The other stuck out from the curtain, as Bokuto tried to check his phone and brush his teeth simultaneously. Oikawa's pyjama top was pushed up Bokuto's arm to the bicep; they had quickly discovered that changing shirts while attached at the wrist would require either the flexibility of a contortionist or a pair of scissors. Oikawa had opted to keep his sleeping shirt on all day. Bokuto, who had chosen to sleep shirtless the night before, had gone for the scissors. 

"You think this looks okay?" Bokuto examined himself in the locker room mirror. He had reluctantly agreed to leave his hair down because there was no way Oikawa was going to suffer through half an hour of styling, and it curled loosely around his face. For a shirt, he'd cut all the way up one side seam of his tank top and tied it back together at his waist, exposing a generous amount of his lower abdomen. The deep, diagonal grooves of his hipbones shifted sensually under his skin, and Oikawa clamped his jaw shut to keep from licking his lips. Yes, there were definitely worse things than being stuck with Bokuto all day. 

Oikawa bit his lip and made a show of looking him over, trying not to let his eyes linger too long just below Bokuto's shirt. "I kinda like it," he concluded. You look good with your hair down." 

"Really?" Bokuto looked concerned. He fixed his bangs for what must've been the twelfth time. "But it's significantly less owl-like this way." 

"That's why you style it? To be... Owl-like?" Oikawa couldn't hold in his derision. "And here I thought looking like a bird-brain was something to be avoided." 

"Hey, don't be mean." Bokuto's shoulders dropped, just a fraction, and he avoided Oikawa's gaze. Oikawa scowled. He could usually brush it off when Iwa-chan called him out on his sharp remarks, but Bokuto looked genuinely disappointed, and it stung in a way that Oikawa had not expected. 

"Sorry." Oikawa slid a finger under the handcuffs and rubbed at the skin there. It was already starting to ache, from the way the cuffs pulled when their movements were  uncoordinated. "I guess I don't like not knowing what the captain has planned." 

Bokuto turned to face him, wearing his usual brilliant smile. "Hey, no worries! Whatever it is, we're gonna kill it, you and me are like the dream team!" 

"I like your confidence, Boku-chan," Oikawa said with a rueful smile. "I'm just worried about Kuroo-chan and Ushiwaka." 

"But you know Wakajima or whatever his name is, and I know all of Kuroo's tricks like the back of my hand. Specially since I taught him half of them." Bokuto squeezed Oikawa's shoulder, the same way Oikawa did with his old team at every Aoba Johsai match. "We can beat them, I know we can."

His enthusiasm, Oikawa had to admit, was contagious. "Yeah," Oikawa whispered, his lips curving into a determined grin, "yeah, we can."

 

-

 

"The game is capture the flag," Yoshimura barked, strutting in front of the first-years standing side by side along the serving line at one end of the gym. Vice-captain Taishou's face remained blank, save for the occasional wink at the first-years behind the captain's back. 

"Rule the first," said Yoshimura, holding one finger up as if that made any of this more official. "Each pair of you will be given a flag. You are to keep this flag on your person and visible to the outside at all times. If we can't grab it from you without stripping your clothes off, that is cheating and will result in a forfeit. Rule the second, no leaving campus grounds, and no hiding in your dorm room all day. If you need to go home, keep it under fifteen minutes, and yes, we will have spies placed outside your buildings."

Bokuto was bouncing on the balls of his feet already. At Oikawa's left, Ushijima stared impassively forward, no doubt absorbing the minutiae of every rule and planning his attack accordingly. Kuroo just broke into a taunting smile when he caught Oikawa observing the competition. 

"There is no limit to the number of flags one team may possess. For the first hour of the game, only the first-years will be playing, so we recommend offensive strategies to try to take an extra flag if you can. After that hour is up, the upperclassmen will also be out to steal your flags, at which point defense will be in your best interest. Flags can be stolen back from upperclassmen, who will observe the same rules of visibility," and Yoshimura paused at this point to glare at one of the second-years, who immediately started to sweat. "If the flags make it back to me, they are no longer in play. The competition ends at six, when the big clock tower stops chiming. We will rendezvous right back here when the clock runs out. Winning team has the most flags. Understood?" 

"Os!" Oikawa yelled in tandem with the rest of the group. Taishou grinned and stepped over, gesturing for Oikawa and Bokuto to follow. Ushijima and Kuroo were being led off in the opposite direction by a couple of fourth-years, and the captain had taken the final team under his arm. 

"Where are we going?" Bokuto asked. 

"Head start?" Oikawa guessed. 

Taishou nodded. "We're separating the teams this year for the start of the game. It should work better, last year's start was a bit too reminiscent of the Hunger Games for the coach's liking." 

"Ouch," Oikawa said. 

Taishou led them away from the gym and over to a sunny stretch of grass by the medical library. Students spread out on blankets, napping or laughing or flipping through their course material, dotted the lawn. Taishou's phone pinged, and he opened an analog clock. 

"Thirty seconds boys," he said. He held up a thin red piece of fabric, about the size of a handkerchief. "Keep that safe."

Oikawa took it and stuffed the flag in his right hip pocket, careful to leave one corner hanging out. He figured that sandwiching the flag between himself and Bokuto should work better for defense. 

"Ready? Game's starting in 3...2...1... Go!" 

Oikawa and Bokuto shared a look. They needed a plan. But first things first, they had to get out of range of the other teams. Oikawa slipped his hand into Bokuto's to better drag him along and took off across the quad. Bokuto nearly tripped twice, but he managed to keep his feet under him as they dashed between the buildings and over the cherry-blossom-strewn walkways. Oikawa finally stopped behind a lecture hall on the very edge of campus grounds, breathing a bit hard, and leaned against the wall to think. 

Bokuto picked up his hand, fingers still interlaced with Oikawa's. "What's this for?" he asked. 

"Hurts less," Oikawa said, quickly. "The cuffs were scraping my wrist." It was also kind of nice, Bokuto's warm, broad hand wrapped around his own. He could feel the volleyball callouses, less pronounced than the ones he'd probably find on Bokuto's spiking hand, and he briefly wondered what the other one felt like. 

"So what's the plan?" Bokuto asked, and Oikawa snapped back to reality, looking away to hide the blush that was forming on his face. Right. He was supposed to be planning. 

"Yoshimura was right, now's the time to go on the offensive. They're gonna come looking for us. Where would Kuroo go if he wanted to find you?" 

Bokuto frowned. "I don't know, my dorm?" 

"Nah, we wouldn't go back there this early. Anywhere else?"

"Probably the dining hall, if it's open. I'm usually there for the full two hours at lunch." 

"God, how much do you eat?" 

Bokuto wrinkled his adorable little nose. It was kind of distracting, and Oikawa almost didn't catch what he said. "Hey, it takes a lot to maintain this physique!"

Oikawa sighed. "Never mind. The important question is: would Kuroo honestly think you'd given up on the game already and went to get food?"

Bokuto's expression turned sheepish. "Yeah. He would."

"Okay," said Oikawa, tightening his grip on Bokuto's hand. "Let's go then." 

 

The dining hall that abutted Bokuto's dormitory was close by. Oikawa was on high alert as they approached. He stopped in the shelter of a big, drooping willow, and pulled Bokuto in under the cover of the tree's shade. It wasn't a very good hiding place, but it would have to do. 

"They wouldn't be inside, would they?" Oikawa whispered. 

"I don't know, maybe. Do you think they're hiding from us?" Bokuto rubbed his bicep nervously, golden eyes darting back and forth. 

"Ushiwaka's not that sneaky. I'd spot him if he were nearby." 

"Or would you," a sinister voice whispered in Oikawa's ear. He whipped his head around to find Kuroo directly behind him. Oikawa stumbled forward, and felt the telltale drag of something leaving his pocket. Kuroo took off at a dead run with the flag held over his head, Ushijima matching his pace with infuriatingly perfect running form. Bokuto took two steps to follow before he tripped and fell, yanking Oikawa down with him. 

Oikawa landed hard on Bokuto's ribcage. He rolled off as fast as he could and sat up. Bokuto sucked in a huge gulp of air, and Oikawa winced in sympathy. 

"Alright," he said as Bokuto regained his breath. "That was an unmitigated disaster." 

"Shoelaces," Bokuto croaked, before flopping back down to the grass. Oikawa glanced at Bokuto's sneakers. Sure enough, the laces were draped across the ground, unknotted. "Wakawaka must have done it." 

"His name is Ushiwaka, and you're probably right. Damn it!" Oikawa tore a fistful of grass up from the lawn and hurled it at the brick wall of the dining hall, fuming. Bokuto sat up with a groan and began to re-tie his shoes. 

"Double knots this time," Oikawa instructed through gritted teeth. Bokuto nodded. 

Oikawa took stock of the situation. They were down one flag, and Ushiwaka was up one. That meant the score was two-nothing, unless the third team of first-years were smarter than they looked. But Oikawa still had most of the day to come up with a counter-attack, and being currently flag-less meant they had nothing to lose when barrelling in on the offensive. 

He checked the time. Half an hour had passed. Beside him, Bokuto finished tightening his laces and crossed his legs, waiting for Oikawa's instruction. Having been captain of his own team last year, Bokuto seemed surprisingly quick to defer to Oikawa's unspoken authority. It was a refreshing change from weeks of being treated as a green-around-the-gills first-year all through tryouts. 

"Get up," Oikawa said, shifting into a crouch in front of Bokuto. The pair of them stood, and Oikawa brushed off his jeans, noticing with distaste the smattering of grass stains on the knees. 

Bokuto gazed longingly in the direction of the dining hall doors. "Hey, if we don't have a flag anyway, and I mean we still have a lot of time, could we, um..."

"What, lunch? Already?"

 

Bokuto squirmed in his grip. "They're doing kebabs today, I don't want to miss it." 

Oikawa let out a long, low groan. They were so, so screwed. 

 

-

 

Oikawa's phone buzzed as they stepped back out into the sunshine after lunch. 

 

_From: Captain Yoshimura_

_> second and third years have joined the game. Keep an eye out ;)_

 

He showed the text to Bokuto, who was still chewing on one of the granola bars he'd snuck out of the dining hall by the pocketful. Oikawa figured they wouldn't last an hour at this rate. 

Someone was jogging toward them across the quad. Oikawa squinted, somewhat regretting that he'd left his glasses in his room. As it drew closer, the figure resolved itself into Taishou. 

"I take it you don't have your flag anymore," said the vice-captain, coming to a stop in front of them, "otherwise the smart thing to do would be to run." 

"We do not," Oikawa said, clenching his fist. Taishou covered a laugh. 

"Well, I'm not really supposed to be helping but I just saw a couple of first-years heading into the engineering building." Taishou jerked a thumb at the concrete slab of a building behind him. "Just remember, you didn't hear that from me." 

Bokuto's eyes lit up, and he mimed zipping his lips shut, locking them, and throwing away the key. Oikawa thanked him and pulled Bokuto along in the direction of the building. 

They made quick work of the first floor, scanning each room briefly as they passed. The floor plan was a giant rectangle, and though the building had three separate staircases, two of them would immediately trip the fire alarm if anyone opened their doors. Oikawa surveyed their options. If he were trying to hide in here, where would he go? 

"Oh! I have it! Come on, Boku-chan!" Bokuto stumbled after him with a puzzled look on his face as Oikawa bounded up the single accessible staircase. Second floor, third, fourth. The stairs kept going after that, though there was no fifth floor. Only the maintenance staff would ever need to go up there; it was an ideal place to go if they didn't want to be seen by the foot-traffic below. Silently, Oikawa positioned Bokuto at one railing and himself at the other, their linked hands bridging the gap so that they blocked off the entire staircase, and motioned for Bokuto to climb. 

It was the other pair of third-years, sitting at the top with their backs to the wall. They froze as Oikawa and Bokuto rose into view. 

"We can do this the easy way, or we can do this the hard way." Oikawa levelled his most menacing grin on the other first-years, hoping that Bokuto would do the same. 

The shorter one, their new libero, met his eyes defiantly. Oikawa should probably have learned his teammates' names by now, but oh well. At the moment, they were the competition, and their namelessness didn't really matter. 

"What's the hard way?" Shorty said, clasping his partner's hand. It seemed that every team had hit in the solution of hand-holding. Sneaky bastards, those upperclassmen, they really had managed to make this a team bonding exercise. 

"The hard way," said Oikawa, "is that my colleague here holds you down while I retrieve your flag." He lowered his brow, staring darkly ahead. "Hope you're not ticklish." 

The taller one made a sort of pleading please-don't-let-me-die kind of face at the libero. Shorty stuck out his jaw angrily. Oikawa waited as they silently conversed, checking on Bokuto out of the corner of his eye. Bokuto was... wow. That was some serious face. No wonder the other team was close to capitulating. 

"Fine. Here." Shorty reached into his back pocket and tossed the balled-up flag at Oikawa's face. He caught it with a triumphant smile. 

"Pleasure doing business with you, boys." Oikawa said, his tone as condescending as he could make it. Victory felt good. 

"Hey hey hey, we're back in the game!" Bokuto crowed as they descended the stairs. Oikawa shoved the flag back in his pocket, very pleased. They wasted no time getting out of the building, in case the other pair decided to take their chances regaining their lost flag before Oikawa and Bokuto got too far. 

Outside, Bokuto whooped and pulled him into a bear hug, tugging Oikawa's own arm behind his back. "Careful!" Oikawa yelped, but he let his other arm rest on Bokuto's bare shoulders anyway. Who wouldn't? Bokuto was second only to Ushiwaka in shoulder breadth, and the way the strong lines of his biceps curved into his traps did things to Oikawa's lower body that were really inappropriate for polite conversation...

"We did it!" Bokuto hollered into Oikawa's ear, shaking him forcefully out of his thoughts. 

"Still down by one though," Oikawa felt he had to point out. Bokuto did that thing with his nose again, and damn, it was still just as cute the second time. 

"Yeah but we also have loads of time. Let's go, we're on a roll now, I can feel it!" 

A shout behind Bokuto turned both of their gazes. A couple of second-years had spotted the flag and were elbowing their way through a gaggle of indignant students. 

"Run. RUN!" Bokuto didn't need to be told twice; black-and-white hair streaming behind him, he put on a burst of speed, his hand gripping Oikawa's tightly as they sprinted away. 

 

-

 

Bokuto skidded to a stop at the edge of the quad. "Holy shit," he breathed, "look!"

Oikawa followed his gaze, and gasped. Kuroo and Ushijima were standing in the middle of the lawn, a sweater draped over their joined hands to hide the cuffs. Kuroo was leaning on Ushijima's shoulder, looking for all the world like he was whispering sweet nothings into Ushijima's ear. 

Oikawa ducked behind a decorative archway, peeking out from behind his cover. There was something in Kuroo's back pocket but he couldn't see what it was from that distance without his glasses. 

"Boku-chan, how many flags do you see?" 

Bokuto squinted. "One from here. Wait, he's turning- two. They have two. What are they doing?"

"Trying to lure us out," Oikawa said with a grimace. "Cocky bastards think they can get all three. The absolute nerve of them!" 

"We gonna take the bait?" Bokuto asked.

Oikawa shook his head. "Not yet. I want to see what happens first." He pulled out his phone and opened snapchat. 

"What's that for?" 

Oikawa smirked. "You'll see." He took a quick picture of Kuroo and Ushijima's backs, and tapped out a few recipients before hitting Send. 

"Now we wait." 

Bokuto giggled, and settled in to watch. He had his arm over his shoulder to accommodate the handcuffs. Oikawa wondered if it would be weird to rest his own hand on Bokuto's back. 

Bokuto took out his own phone to open Oikawa's snapchat. The picture played out for seven seconds, captioned: "Open season on the North quad! ;)" Oikawa spotted movement in the trees at the other end of the field. 

"Hey, Oikawa?"

"Hm?" 

Bokuto twisted around to face him, holding his phone. Uncertainty creased his brow. "I was just thinking, the others know this campus pretty well, right? Won't they know where you took that picture from?"

"Well, yeah, they would- oh. Shit."

"Smarter than you look, owl boy." 

Oikawa turned, wide-eyed. One of the second-years who had been trying to give chase moments ago was standing in the shadow of the archways, not ten feet from where they stood. 

"Bokuto, cover!" Oikawa yelled, shielding the flag by pressing his hip into Bokuto's side. 

"I knew it, you do have one," said the second-year, his grin widening. Oikawa heard Kuroo shouting from somewhere in the quad. He didn't dare turn his head. 

The guy lunged for them. Bokuto snarled and dodged, backing Oikawa up against the arches. "Ready?"

"For what?" Oikawa sputtered. Bokuto didn't have time to answer. He caught the second-year by the arm and hooked his leg behind the guy's knee. The second year went down flailing. Oikawa jumped out of range of the hands that were scrabbling to catch him by the pant leg. 

"Go! Go! Go!" Bokuto herded him out of the archway and into the quad. Oikawa dug in his heels before they could go further; Taishou and a couple of other third years had Kuroo and Ushijima mid-tackle, but there were more of their teammates watching the struggle, and Taishou was pointing directly at them from the ground. 

"Other way!" Oikawa screamed. Bokuto backpedalled and almost lost his footing. He was saved by Oikawa's hand on his arm, and there was unfortunately no time to marvel at just how thick those arms were under his hands because they were sprinting madly in the opposite direction. 

 

 

They both ran out of breath around the Women's Studies building. "D'you think we lost them?" Bokuto asked, bending over his knees. Oikawa scanned the premises. "Think so." 

"Oikawa, you're bleeding!" 

"What?" Oikawa frowned as Bokuto picked up his hand. Sure enough, the last scuffle had caused the cuffs to tear into the skin on his wrist. It wasn't deep; he hadn't even felt it until now. 

"Come on dude, let's take you to Yoshimura. He wouldn't make you hurt yourself for a stupid-"

"No!" Oikawa growled, grabbing a fistful of Bokuto's shirt in his free hand. "I am not forfeiting! I will not lose to Ushiwaka!"

"Alright, easy," said Bokuto, quailing under Oikawa's grasp, "we won't give up okay? I have band-aids in my room, we can patch you up." 

Oikawa scowled. "I'm not hiding in the dorms, Bokuto. That's a forfeit too." 

"He said we're allowed fifteen minutes, right? This shouldn't take longer than ten. Come on."

"Like I have a choice," Oikawa muttered under his breath. Bokuto either didn't hear it or chose to pretend he didn't. He very carefully took Oikawa's hand in his, keeping their forearms close so the cuffs wouldn't tug. 

Oikawa followed Bokuto up to his room, a single overlooking the river.  Bokuto rummaged around in the closet, then plopped down on the bed with a plain zippered bag. He slid the cuff up Oikawa's wrist as far as it would go and turned it from side to side, examining the wound. 

"Maybe we should wrap it up, I have a tensor bandage in here somewhere." The kit spilled out onto Bokuto's bed. It was quite thoroughly stocked. 

"I'm impressed, Boku-chan, I didn't think you would be so prepared." 

Bokuto smiled, ducking his head. "It wasn't me, actually. Akaashi wouldn't let me leave for school without enough band-aids to get me through the semester. He's kind of the best. Look, he even got me ones with eagles on them!" 

"Eagles?" Oikawa examined the box. "I thought you were an owl man." 

"I am, they didn't have owls. But I like all birds, especially the predatory ones, they're just so cool!" As he talked, Bokuto stripped the paper backing off a plain, tan bandage and placed it over the scrape, smoothing it down with his thumbs. The simple gesture, and the gentleness with which he pressed down on Oikawa's wrist bones, was almost uncomfortably intimate. They were alone in Bokuto's dorm room, and Oikawa was practically getting a wrist massage from one of the most built guys in the entire school. He propped one leg up on the bed, as insurance against the increasing probability of becoming semi-hard in his jeans. 

Bokuto fed the edge of the tensor bandage under Oikawa's cuff and began wrapping. It would have to be tight, and might restrict Oikawa's mobility, but at least the cuffs would no longer chafe. Bokuto's hair fell in his eyes as he worked, and he tried to blow it out of the way with little puffs of air. If there were a competition for being unintentionally cute, Oikawa was now convinced that Bokuto Koutarou would hold the undefeated record. 

"Better?" 

Oikawa twisted his wrist a couple of times. "Yeah, much better. Thanks." 

Bokuto beamed. "Great! How are we doing for time?" 

Oikawa pulled out his phone. "That took eight minutes, we have seven left." 

"Nice! Told you we'd be less than ten!" Bokuto began scooping the contents of his kit back into its bag. "Oh, look, these ones are cool too!"  He held up a package of glittery bandages. "You want one?" 

"Oh my god yes," said Oikawa. He picked out a holographic silver one, pulled off the backing and slapped it right on the center of his cheek. "What do you think?" 

Bokuto grinned. "Sparkly," he said. 

"This is going on my Instagram. C'mere, Boku-chan." Oikawa held up his phone with the camera open, and shifted so that his shoulder pressed up against Bokuto's. As he was taking the picture, Oikawa turned and pressed a kiss into Bokuto's cheek, just in front of his ear. 

It was nothing, a quick peck. Iwaizumi had received hundreds over the years. Hell, he'd even kissed Tobio-chan like that once. But with Bokuto, it felt more daring for some odd reason, more obscene. Maybe because there were other places on Bokuto's body he wanted to put his mouth, and even a chaste little kiss like that was one step closer. Possibly also due to the combination of sweat, shampoo, and deodorant that smelled distinctly male and sort of reminded Oikawa of sex. 

Bokuto turned bright red in an instant, and didn't seem to know where to look. Far too pleased with himself, Oikawa picked a filter and captioned it with the first thing that came to mind. 

 

_Team building with this piece of ace! :P xoxo_

 

Iwaizumi was going to kill him. 

 

-

 

_From: Captain Yoshimura_

_> Fifteen minutes left boys! Two flags still in play_

 

"Huh," Oikawa said, tilting his phone so Bokuto could read the text. "Looks like we're tied again." 

"That's good, right?" Bokuto asked. "Even playing field?"

"I suppose. But time is running out and we're still not winning." Oikawa pursed his lips. "We need a new plan." 

"Shit!" Bokuto suddenly hauled him always from the sidewalk and took off toward the nearest building, an old library whose name or purpose Oikawa had not yet learned. The door was propped open to let the breeze in; Bokuto pulled him inside and flattened Oikawa against the inner wall with his chest. 

"Wha-" 

Bokuto clapped his right hand over Oikawa's mouth. Oikawa tried to ask him what the hell was going on with just his eyebrows. Bokuto shushed him, eyes trained on the path outside. 

"-show up eventually, don't worry. The Bokuto I know doesn't back down from a challenge." 

"Neither does Oikawa, in my experience," Ushijima said, flatly. 

Kuroo laughed. Bokuto pressed in closer as they came into view, passing right by the doorway. If Kuroo and Ushijima had been walking in the other direction, they would have spotted Bokuto in an instant. Oikawa held his breath and prayed. 

"No," said Kuroo lightly, "I'm getting the impression he doesn't. You thinking second gym?" 

They didn't look over. Oikawa watched Ushijima give Kuroo a curt nod before they disappeared from view. Oikawa let out the breath he'd been holding, puffing at Bokuto's fingers. Bokuto seemed to suddenly realize how close they were and took a step back. Oikawa almost missed the weight of his chest, but they didn't have time for that now. 

"Close one," whispered Bokuto, rubbing the back of his neck. 

"Second gym, eh?" Oikawa said. "Good to know exactly where you're headed, Waka-chan." 

"We're gonna follow them, right?" Bokuto seemed newly fired up again, rising up on the balls of his feet with his knees bent, the typical ready stance on the court.  

Oikawa let a devious smile spread across his face. "We wouldn't want to lose the upper hand. Come on, before we lose the element of surprise." 

 

 

Kuroo and Ushijima were nowhere in sight as they approached the athletic centre. "Would they be inside?" Bokuto asked in a low voice. 

"Maybe. Keep your eyes open, there's bound to be a ton of upperclassmen around here." Oikawa's fingers went to his pocket, checking that the flag was still safely tucked away. Bokuto stood on his toes to scan the crowds of students milling about for familiar faces. 

"Nothing so far," Bokuto said with a hint of concern in his voice. "I say we go inside and look for them." 

"Bold move," Oikawa replied. He checked the time: less than ten minutes left. If they wanted to beat Ushiwaka, they would have to find him first. "Let's go," said Oikawa, and he squeezed Bokuto's hand. 

They stepped through the doors with caution, but no one greeted them in the other side. The front foyer seemed clear of danger. The second gym was accessible through the locker room, a perfect maze of hiding places even for two athletic guys over 180cm each. After making sure there was no one ready to spring out of the shadows behind them, Bokuto cautiously pushed open the locker room door. 

Inside was silent as a grave. Oikawa's nerves tingled, hyper-alert to the tiniest movement. Even the air hung still. 

"Kuroo!" Bokuto hollered. "I can hear you breathing!" 

"Can you? I don't hear anything." 

"It's called bluffing," Bokuto said in a harsh whisper. Damn, he really was smarter than he looked. 

The pair of them stood completely still for a moment, listening. The fluorescent lights hummed over their heads, and occasionally a muffled voice filtered through the door, but other than that, nothing. Complete silence. Bokuto motioned for Oikawa to follow, and began to check behind the rows of lockers, one by one. 

Five rows to go. Four. Three. Two. 

"Maybe they're already in the gym?" Bokuto said. He poked around the final row, and-

 

_wham!_

 

Oikawa went down in a flurry of limbs. Bokuto roared. But it wasn't Ushiwaka or Kuroo, the person's build was too lean, his hair a shade too light-

Taishou. He'd been waiting for an ambush. 

"Haha, suckers!" Taishou yelled, making a grab for Oikawa's pocket. Bokuto swung his arm out to block but he was half a second too slow, and the flag once again slid free of Oikawa's possession. Taishou rolled out of his reach, giggling maniacally, and Oikawa wanted to scream in frustration. Taishou ducked out of sight, but before he did Oikawa caught a glimpse of a second flag hanging out of his back pocket. 

So Ushiwaka was flag-less too. Oikawa gritted his teeth and hauled Bokuto to his feet. 

"We can still win this," Oikawa yelled, and with Bokuto at his side he burst into the second gym. 

Yoshimura sat at the far end of the court on a throne of tumbling mats. He wore the third and final flag as a headband, and was surveying the scuffle that was happening in the centre of the gym with detached interest. Ushijima and Kuroo had apparently planned an ambush of their own, and caught Taishou before he could disqualify the remaining flags. The three of them were on the ground, Taishou blocking with his forearms as Kuroo and Ushijima grabbed for the flags. 

With a resounding battle cry, Oikawa and Bokuto dive right into the heap, just as the clock tower started to chime. They had ten seconds at best. Oikawa scrabbled for purchase against Ushijima's back, searching for any sign of colourful fabric, and there it was, floating, suspended in Kuroo's grasp. Oikawa's hand shot out to grab it, and Kuroo must not have been expecting the attack because it slipped right out of his fingers. Oikawa curled his entire body around his hand, clutching the flag to his chest as if his life depended on it. There were hands at his back, trying to pry his arms loose from his body, and his muscles were screaming under the force of Ushijima's grip but there was only one more chime to go...

"And TIME!" Yoshimura's voice rang out, ending the game. Ushijima's hands fell away, defeated. He heard Taishou groan. 

Bokuto lay on his back, panting, as the others untangled themselves from their pile of limbs. Oikawa relaxed his death grip and held up his flag for Yoshimura to see. 

"Okay, one for the owl team! Who's got the other one?"

Oikawa looked toward Ushiwaka, expecting him to produce the other flag and end the game in a draw. Which was not ideal, but at the very least, Oikawa hadn't lost. But Ushiwaka just glanced at Kuroo, who held his palms up, empty. Yoshimura cocked his head and threw Taishou a questioning look. The vice-captain shrugged. 

Oikawa turned to Bokuto, disbelieving. A slow, triumphant grin spread across Bokuto's face, and he unfurled his fist. The final flag lay crumpled in his hand. 

"YES!" Oikawa cried, and threw his arm around Bokuto's neck. It didn't matter that it was off the court, because finally he'd had his chance to defeat Ushijima and Oikawa was so happy he could kiss Bokuto right on the lips. 

Which he did. Soundly.

Taishou whistled from behind him. "Some team bonding exercise," Kuroo joked, and Oikawa figured he should be embarrassed, probably, but he was too high on adrenaline and victory to care. Oikawa flopped onto his back, flag in hand, smiling up at the ceiling. Ushiwaka lost. He won. It was a good feeling. 

 

-

 

Oikawa neatly rolled up Bokuto's tensor bandage and clipped it in place. Yoshimura had unlocked everyone's cuffs and stored them in the back of the equipment closet for next year's newbies. The prize for winning had turned out to be nothing special - bragging rights and two weeks off clean-up duty after practices. But still, in and of itself, the sensation of winning was all the prize Oikawa really needed. 

Bokuto had already stripped off his makeshift shirt and put on a proper one, much to Oikawa's secret disappointment. He'd been enjoying those shoulders. Oikawa looked up as Kuroo tried to nudge Bokuto in his direction. Bokuto was resisting, looking slightly pained, and Kuroo nearly hip-checked him into the lockers. 

"Boku-chan!" Oikawa said. Bokuto looked up, and Kuroo took the opportunity to slink away, leaving the two of them alone. 

"Here," said Oikawa, holding out the rolled-up bandage. "Thanks. And you did great today, we make a good team don't you think?"

Bokuto chuckled nervously, face flushed. "Yeah, I guess we do." He took the bandage, tossed it from hand to hand. "Um, I had something I, um, wanted to ask you." 

"Mhm?" Oikawa closed his locker door and leaned against it, waiting. 

Bokuto fidgeted. "That, when you... I mean... was that...?"

"What, the kiss?" 

Bokuto's face was the colour of a fire hydrant already, and was rapidly getting worse. "Yeah. That."

Oikawa pushed himself off the lockers and stood in front of Bokuto, close enough to reach out and touch him. He didn't, letting his words hang in the air between them instead. 

"What about it?" 

Bokuto looked like he might actually faint. "Was that just, y'know, a 'yay we won' kind of thing or did it, like, would you..." 

This was too cute. Oikawa couldn't let him suffer any longer. 

"Let's put it this way, Boku-chan," he said, lowering his eyelashes. "I wouldn't mind if we did it again." 

Bokuto's eyes went wide. Oikawa took a step forward and caught Bokuto's lower lip between his teeth. Bokuto inhaled sharply, frozen in place for a moment, then pressed in and returned the kiss with enthusiasm. If Oikawa were being totally honest, his technique could use some improvement - that was an awful lot of tongue in a very short period of time. But Oikawa could work with that. 

Bokuto broke away and stared at the ground, grinning through his burning cheeks. "So you didn't mind being stuck with me all day, then?" 

Oikawa laughed. "Why would you even think that? You were great! And we won, didn't we?" 

Bokuto bit his lip and grinned. "Yeah, yeah we did." 

Oikawa slipped his right hand into Bokuto's left, thumbing over the now-familiar callouses. "Wanna go make fun of Kuroo for losing?"

"Oh, hell yeah!" Bokuto squeezed his hand. And even though they'd been holding hands the entire day, Oikawa found himself not wanting to let go. 

 

**Author's Note:**

> "So how did you guys end up getting together?"  
> Iwaizumi did not stop laughing for 300 years
> 
>  
> 
> Come yell at me about all of the rarepairs on [Tumblr](http://granbae.tumblr.com/)


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